Chapter 231: Birds in the Sky
Boom! Boom boom! Boom boom boom boom boom!
With one round of explosions after another, the positions painstakingly constructed by the Portuguese erupted into a magnificent display of fireworks, quickly followed by various cries and wails in different dialects. However, these sounds were quickly drowned out by the continuous barrage of artillery fire.
Of course, it wasn't necessarily that they had disappeared. The constant explosions of artillery fire simply drowned out the cries of the Portuguese soldiers and the indigenous people.
"The enemy is here, the enemy is here!"
"Take cover, take cover!"
"Damn it, it must be the Australasians, how did they get here so fast?"
"Quick, notify the commander, the Australasians are here!"
Portuguese soldiers who were fortunate enough not to be caught in the explosions scrambled and crawled out of the blast zone.
By the time the Portuguese army managed to react and get to their positions, it had been over ten minutes.
The first round of bombings was already over, and the sheer volume of explosions had left the Portuguese positions shrouded in a dark haze.
Those who looked carefully might have spotted some severed limbs and discarded excavation tools in the corners.
"Everyone, take up positions, defend against the enemy!" The Portuguese soldiers desperately relayed the command.
The position they were constructing was the first line of defense for Dili, and indeed, the only line of defense.
To be honest, a small city with a population of just over 20,000 could only build such a large-scale defensive line with the help of many indigenous people.
Without these indigenous people, not only would the defensive line not have been built, but the first round of bombardment would have likely obliterated the entire city.
The first bombardment by the First Defense Division was highly effective. Many of the hastily constructed positions had collapsed, and the artillery positions that had not been reinforced were completely destroyed.
Although there was still a relatively solid trench that could serve as the front-line defense, General Silvio Lonni Rodlin felt that it was utterly futile to rely on it to stop the First Defense Division's assault.
Looking at his watch, he noted that it was already past 8 AM.
General Silvio Lonni Rodlin muttered to himself, "Those guys should be arriving soon, right?"
"Stop the bombardment, let the Portuguese enter their positions," General Silvio Lonni Rodlin suddenly commanded.
The artillerymen, though unsure of the purpose behind the command, obediently stopped loading their guns.
Seeing this, the Portuguese soldiers finally breathed a sigh of relief. Under the command of their garrison commander, many soldiers quickly rushed into the positions.
Of course, the most fortified and longest constructed trenches were occupied by the Portuguese soldiers, while the hastily built and partially collapsed positions were manned by the indigenous troops.
To ensure the loyalty of the indigenous soldiers, all the lower-ranking officers in the indigenous army were Portuguese.
Additionally, the commander of the garrison in Portuguese Timor had sent military supervisors to monitor every movement of the indigenous troops.
Should any of the indigenous soldiers show signs of retreating, they would be met with the merciless bullets of the military police.
Thus, the First Defense Division and the Portuguese army held an uneasy ceasefire.
The Portuguese soldiers anxiously awaited the Australasians' assault, while the soldiers of the First Defense Division, under General Silvio Lonni Rodlin's orders, concealed themselves at a distance.
At the Portuguese positions,
Initially, the Portuguese soldiers were on edge. The previous explosions had been frequent, as if thousands of cannons had fired simultaneously, with shells coming down like a torrential downpour.
Although the main force of the Portuguese soldiers had not been directly hit by the bombardment, the tremors and sounds of the explosions made them feel the despair and panic caused by the firepower suppression.
This was why, even though the bombardment by the First Defense Division had stopped for over ten minutes, the Portuguese soldiers did not dare to retaliate with artillery.
First of all, the Portuguese artillery positions had been destroyed, and their artillery numbers were already few. In both quantity and quality, they could never compete with Australasia's firepower.
"Soldiers, the Australasians are out of shells! Although the bombardment was frequent, it also consumed most of their ammunition supplies. Stay strong, if we hold this position until reinforcements arrive, all of you will be heroes of the Kingdom, and His Majesty the King will personally award you with medals!" The commander of the garrison, Café Filho, quickly rallied the troops.
Upon hearing the commander's explanation, and noting that the Australasians' bombardment had indeed ceased, the Portuguese soldiers relaxed, and the indigenous troops also began to feel grateful for their temporary survival.
Buzz~ Buzz~ Buzz buzz~
Suddenly, a buzzing sound broke the brief silence in the positions, leaving the Portuguese soldiers bewildered.
It was winter in the Southern Hemisphere, and mosquitoes were rare on Timor Island, making it impossible for such a loud, widespread buzzing sound to come from insects.
So, where was this buzzing coming from? Surely not all the Portuguese soldiers could have mistaken the source?
"My God, look up! There are a few large birds in the sky!" A sharp-eyed soldier suddenly noticed the abnormality in the sky and shouted in surprise.
"Oh, shit! How could there be such big birds? Is the buzzing coming from them?"
The Portuguese soldiers had never seen such large birds, and they stared in disbelief.
"Alright, everyone, stay alert for an ambush by the Australasians. This may be a new species we've never seen before. We'll have time to study them after the war. Listen up, boys, the soldier who kills the most enemies, I'll personally request a commendation from His Majesty for him and ask for a title!" Café Filho, also noticing the strange sight in the sky, didn't seem too concerned.
Hearing Café Filho's words, many Portuguese soldiers became excited and instinctively tightened their grip on their rifles.
Portugal had a long history of monarchy, and its nobles were one of the most powerful classes in the Kingdom.
Everyone had a dream of becoming a noble, and war was one of the ways to achieve this.
Upon hearing the buzzing sound, General Silvio Lonni Rodlin smiled, nodded, and said, "Artillery, create some noise for these guys. A surprise ambush will have the best result."
The soldiers of Australasia, trained to be disciplined, had indeed heard the buzzing and noticed the strange objects in the sky.
However, as seasoned soldiers, they knew that their primary task was to follow orders.
Boom!
The bombardment from the First Defense Division resumed, but this time the frequency was much lower than before. The consumption of artillery shells was only about one-fifth of the previous indiscriminate barrage.
The positions were bombarded once again, and naturally, the most anxious were the Portuguese soldiers.
However, upon hearing that the bombardment frequency had noticeably decreased, General Café Filho smiled confidently and instructed his soldiers, "The Australasians are running out of shells! We just need to hold out through this bombardment, and when the enemy gets closer, we'll counterattack with full force!"
Once the messenger had delivered the order, General Café Filho comfortably retreated into a more fortified trench that had been reinforced with cement.
Such hiding spots had been planned in advance when the trenches were being dug. Thanks to the use of cement, the structures were much stronger than regular trenches.
These cement facilities were connected to the trenches, but the connection point was a sharp turn, making it an ideal spot to prevent any artillery shells from impacting the trench and causing collateral damage.
Every 100 meters, such cement structures had been built to provide a safe haven for soldiers under bombardment.
This round of bombardment came quickly and left just as fast. Apart from the indigenous soldiers who were not sheltered by the cement structures, the Portuguese soldiers suffered very few casualties.
This greatly strengthened the Portuguese soldiers' confidence in winning the war. They now believed that Australasia's soldiers were no match for them—aside from staying far away and throwing shells, they couldn't even manage a proper charge.
Buzz~
An even more pronounced buzzing sound interrupted the Portuguese soldiers' thoughts. Many looked up in surprise, their eyes widening.
The large birds they had thought they had seen in the sky were now dropping black dots.
Those dots grew larger and larger in the soldiers' sight, eventually becoming identifiable as bombs.
"It's bombs! Take cover! Take cover!" General Café Filho was the first to realize the situation.
As the black dots continued to fall from the sky, General Café Filho took out his binoculars to examine what they were.
To his horror, it was not large birds at all. Instead, it was a series of mechanical objects resembling birds.
And those machines were dropping bomb after bomb, and the landing spots of those bombs were directly over the Portuguese positions.
Unfortunately, from the moment General Café Filho noticed the situation and shouted, the bombs landed and exploded in just a few seconds.
What can you do in a few seconds? Blink a couple of times? Take a few steps?
Aside from a few Portuguese soldiers who were close to the cement structures, most of the soldiers didn't even have time to escape to the shelter.
Moreover, due to their complete unpreparedness, only around ten soldiers were able to reach the cement shelter in time.
Boom! Boom boom!
Australasia had dispatched six bombers, all piloted by experienced aviators.
In the first round, these six bombers dropped 36 bombs, all of a large caliber, with an extensive damage range.
The bombing continued, round after round. After the six bombers had dropped all their bombs, they swaggered back to base.
At the Portuguese positions, a scene even more disastrous than the previous bombardments unfolded.
(End of Chapter)
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